Chapter 3: Welcome!
[Host, I will hibernate to regain some energy. Anyway, I'm sure it will be a long time before these players win a Pokémon battle.]
"..."
[Goodbye, Host. If you need anything, you can call the shop; I promise it sells a lot of useful items!]
After that, the system vanished as if it had never been there.
Seeing this, Red remained silent because he believed that the system was a Pokémon, and Pokémon are friends.
"Oh my god! The graphics here look so vibrant! It's like being in a cartoon world!" A slightly rude voice echoed, and Red turned to pay attention to the players.
Everyone looked different, but their outfits were the same, making it easy to mistake them for members of some organization.
"It feels like... I seem a bit younger and shorter?"
"Is it that this game has defaulted us to being children?"
"Does this company not fear being criticized by X?"
Red truly didn't understand what the five people in front of him were talking about.
"Who is the NPC in front of us? Is it a guide?"
"Strange? None of this company's games have ever had guides; they usually let us do whatever we want."
"Um, hello?" A brown-haired boy approached to greet Red.
"..."
"Um... do you have any guidance?"
"..."
"Oh great, a glitch? I shouldn't have expected much from a game that's still in beta." A red-haired boy who looked like a thug walked over.
"I feel like having a guide in this game is the same as not having one since our guide is mute," the black-haired boy said as he waved his hand in Red's face.
Red genuinely didn't know what to do, then he remembered a game he used to play with Blue.
'Why don't I try this?'
Red turned away, leaving the three boys confused.
"Glitched NPC?"
"Probably not?"
Red then turned to look at them and waved his hand, inviting them to follow.
"Thank goodness, it really is a game function."
"But who would be crazy enough to make the guide someone who never talks?"
"Whatever, hey you two! Come with us!" The red-haired boy shouted at the two girls.
The cold-faced girl with purple short hair glanced at the boy and whispered to the pink-haired girl next to her.
Both girls nodded and approached, but they kept a significant distance from the red-haired boy.
"WHAAT IS THIS?? I HAVEN'T DONE ANYTHING!?!?"
"Who told you to have a face like a thug on a motorcycle attacking stores?"
"IT'S NOT MY FAULT??? I'VE HAD THIS FACE SINCE I WAS BORN! THIS IS UNFAIR!!"
"Let him be; let's move on," the black-haired boy said to the other three, leaving the red-haired boy alone.
"HEY!! WAIT FOR ME!!!"
The five people followed Red, their eyes sparkling as they looked around.
"This graphics reminds me of a farming game, it's really so vibrant!" the pink-haired girl said cheerfully.
"These houses look very simple, kinda reminds me of my hometown," the red-haired boy said proudly.
"If your hometown is that beautiful, then why do you have red hair?" the brown-haired boy asked suspiciously.
"Hey! Don't judge by appearances! You guys are bullying me!!"
"Why don't we introduce ourselves? I'm Farmqueen!" the pink-haired girl said to everyone.
"Fairygoth."
"That name sounds terrible."
The short purple-haired girl glared at the red-haired boy, making him hide behind the brown-haired boy.
"Um... I'm NTRslayer."
"Pfft," the red-haired boy stifled a laugh.
"Want a punch, redhead? Say your name."
"Chill out, alright I'm Cuckmaster!"
"..."
The group stopped and looked at the red-haired boy, and even Red stared at him.
"Um... is there a problem with my name?"
"...nothing at all. What about you?" NTRslayer looked at the black-haired boy.
"Bob."
"...i-is that it?"
"Just Bob."
Red looked at the group, feeling truly helpless in the presence of these people.
What the heck is this? He had heard about the weirdness of players through the system, but even their names were nothing short of a joke!
For the first time, Red frowned; he rarely showed emotions, but these people had managed to make him express himself, even just a little!
NTRslayer looked around and noticed a strange creature.
"What's that?"
Seeing NTRslayer pointing at the creature, the group stopped and stared at it.
'Weedle,' Red thought to himself, remaining silent.
Weedle looked at the group in fear. It had been searching for food and had accidentally wandered into this small town, and now six people were staring at it.
It started to think about using Poison Sting and running away, but before it could do anything, it heard the brown-haired boy in front of it say,
"I don't want to say this, but... that thing is designed quite strangely, yet it's really cute..."
"I agree, I want to touch it!"
"Cute."
"But the spike on its head looks a bit scary. Are you sure we can touch it?"
"What are you afraid of? Even if we die, we'll just respawn!"
"Yeah, right? Let's touch it!"
Hearing this, Weedle became even more frightened. Although it was often ignored by many trainers, this was the first time someone had shown interest in it and called it cute. And now, these people intended to touch its entire body!!!
However, before the group could get closer, Red intervened.
He walked over, took a oran berry, and handed it to NTRslayer.
He pointed at the berry and then at the Weedle.
"He's too quiet, he only uses body language..."
"It seems he means to use the berry to feed it?"
"Oh? Is this some kind of pet-raising game?"
"Probably?"
NTRslayer approached and held out the berry to the Weedle in front of him.
Weedle was a bit startled but looked at the person before it and then at the berry.
Pokémon are intelligent creatures, they can understand human intentions. However, they are also very innocent and trusting, easily believing in humans if treated kindly.
Weedle was no different. Seeing that the person in front of it seemed kind-hearted, it decided to trust him.
As Weedle came closer and started eating the berry, the group blushed.
"OH MY GOD! THIS IS THE FIRST TIME I'VE SEEN A WORM SO CUTE!" Bob exclaimed loudly, staring at the caterpillar.
"SO WHAT IF THE DESIGN IS STRANGE?! CUTE IS STILL CUTE!!" Cuckmaster's eyes were ablaze with excitement.
"KYAA, I REALLY WANT TO TOUCH IT!!!!" Farmqueen swayed her body, intending to take out her phone to take a picture, but she forgot she was in a game.
"Cute," Fairygoth praised, though her face remained stiff.
'They're not that bad... is the system malfunctioning?' Red thought as he observed the group.
NTRslayer blushed as Weedle licked the remnants of the berry from his hand; he felt a little ticklish.
'Maybe I should buy a pet to raise later...'
After finishing the berry, Weedle happily rubbed against his arm.
'I like this game.'
After the group admired the Weedle for a while, they moved on.
Weedle looked at NTRslayer and stealthily followed him.
After following Red for a while, the group arrived at the Pokémon lab.
Red stopped them and gestured for them to wait outside.
They complied, as they were still excited to learn about everything.
Red sighed in relief and entered the Pokémon lab.
In front of him were many assistants of the professor, all busy with their work.
Before Red stood a boy with brown-orange hair, wearing a black shirt and purple jean. His expression was very proud.
"Red, you're late."
"..."
"Still as silent as ever, huh?"
This was Professor Oak's grandson, Blue—both a close friend and a rival.